A veteran’s dream comes true

KHS Principal Karla Reynolds presents WWII veteran George H Jones with an honorary high school diploma.

During Friday’s Veterans Day Assembly, Kuna WWII veteran George H. Jones presented the high school with a special memorial flag in honor of two friends who didn’t make it home from the war. He told a story that began around 1941, when he left KHS without graduating to join the war effort. But in the years following, when he was passed over for promotions and missed out on better opportunities, he realized he’d “made a mistake” and wished he’d stayed in school long enough to earn his diploma.

But as he turned from the podium and headed back to his seat, KHS Principal Karla Reynolds stepped up to the microphone and made an announcement that surprised Jones and brought many in the audience to tears.

It “may be a day late and a dollar short,” Reynolds said, but she was awarding him a diploma. George H. Jones is now an honorary graduate of the Kuna High School Class of 2013.

The gym exploded in cheers, and Mr. Jones, clearly wearing his heart on his sleeve, decided he had one more thing to say to the students. Diploma in hand, he marched back to the back up to the podium.